#6 - Michael 'Air' Jordan
MJ is definitely not the best defensive player to ever play the game. But given his will to win, and inability to accept losing, are probably the driving factors in his success as a defender. The intensity with which MJ played defense was motivating. He literally made playing defense and shutting down opponents ‘cool’ for guards. In the modern game, Josh Smith and Lebron James are often on highlight reels for hustling back on defense and erasing mistakes by blocking wide-open opposition lay-ups off the backboard. Well you can thank MJ for that, as he basically invented those highlights. MJ was the NBA’s defensive player of the year in 1988, and has the record 9 times on the NBA All-defensive First Team. Jordan is also second to only John Stockton on the All-time Steals list with 2,514 career steals.
